"Annie, What are you thinking right now?" Changbin looked down at me.
"Uhhh- nothing." I quickly broke free from my focus on Hyunjin.
"Ah." Changbin shrugged back with a sigh in his breath.
"Is something wrong?" Hyunjin stood up while shoving his hands in his pockets.
"Nothing. We should probably get Annie home so she is safe, it's getting late."
"Yeah, you head out first. I will take her home."
"Why can't we take her together?" Changbin shot over a glare. I quickly got up and waved my hands. "It's okay, I can go on my own." But. I had just realized that I exposed my hand.
"What is that?" Changbin said gently while grabbing my hand.
Both of their eyes were on me. I quickly drew back my hand.
"It's fine," I hid it. I felt the tension in the air and I didn't want it anymore. I started to head towards the door.
"Annie," Hyunjin called out.
"It's fine, I will bandage it when I get home." I made a quick wave and limped out the door. I held onto the railing as I carried myself down the porch stairs. I heard the door quickly open behind me. Changbin ran beside me.
"Are you sure you're okay?"
"I am fine. Really." For some reason, I felt flustered. Like I was frustrated, confused, and stressed. I quickly turned around. "I can go on my own now." Changbin let me be and I carried myself back to my house. I had an uneasy feeling. "Maybe I shouldn't have left?"
NARRATOR POV
The next morning, Changbin was carrying through the halls, with Minho by his side. "They were acting strangely yesterday." He clicked his tongue.
"Like what?" Minho looked over at him. "Are they dating?"
Changbin stayed quiet as the thought rolled around in his head. "Maybe I should tell her sooner rather than later."
"I would tell her when you get the chance." Then Changbin saw someone rolling around in the halls and heard him yelling. "Where is Annie? Where is Annie?!" As he got closer they had recognized Jisung's voice. His eyes focused on them. "Have you seen Annie?"
"Ah, no. We just got here for the day." Minho and Changbin looked at each other as Jisung passed them.
"Wonder what's up," Minho added.
"Maybe I will call her." Changbin got out his phone and dialed the number, but she wasn't picking up. "She's not answering." He shrugged in worry.
"Maybe I should call Hyunjin?"
"Nah, let's just move on to class." They walked ahead. Changbin had an unsettling feeling. "She did go home last night, right?" They both walked into class together to see Felix and Macy chattering, and smiling at each other. "What are you guys doing?" Minho glared as he slammed his books on his desk.
"Nothing." Felix shrugged back. Macy scratched her head as Changbin sat next to her. "Have you seen Annie?" He muttered.
"Not today, she was saying she got an urgent call or something."
"Ah," Changbin took a big breath and looked at the back of the class. Hyunjin was having his head in his books, writing.
"I wonder what it was."
Chan came into the class with a huge smile on his face. "Heyyyyyyyy." He said with a long roll. Everyone's eyes focused on him. "Valentines Day is coming up so no silly ideas."
The class went silent. "Just kidding! We are going to be holding a Spring Festival Next month so I will like to prepare you all for that, this class was put in charge of helping with the decorations and events so start planning now." A bright smile came over his face.
"Now let's get to class." He started to write on the chalkboard.
"That's exciting, I wonder what we are going to do," Felix whispered back. "Yes, I am excited too." Macy made a smile.
Changbin glared at the both of them. They all focused on the lesson.
"Also, be prepared for exams at the end of the year too, you can never be too prepared for it." Chan ended at the end of the lesson. "Now, make sure to pack your bags as I give you all the assignments throughout the week." he nodded at all of them as the bell rang. They all escorted together, but Changbin looked around and had noticed that Hyunjin had disappeared. "What exactly are they hiding?"
Seungmin and Hyunjin quickly got away, to where no one else could hear them. "It's getting worse." Hyunjin coughed.
"You did warn her, didn't you? She told me about it yesterday at work.."
"She did? I guess she assumed everyone would know. She told me she wouldn't breathe a word to anyone about it." Hyunjin took a deep breath as he felt his heart start to thump, he shook his head. "Maybe you should tell her? I am just concerned for both of you because you are both my friends." Seungmin looked down. "I understand that I do want what's best for her. I just don't want to hurt her, but either way." Hyunjin looked down as the feeling in his chest got more and more intense. "Do you know where she went?"
"No, I believe she got called into work though, there was a special meeting today and they might have called her in." Seungmin scratched his head. "Just be sure to tell her soon." He made clear and carried himself away. Hyunjin took a deep breath and looked around. The thing is, Hyunjin didn't want to hold himself back. He wanted this more than anything, but he knew what he had to do, not just to save himself, but to save Annie.
ANNIE POV
I quickly rushed out of the meeting, feeling drained and out of it. "Of course I could barely sleep last night because time keeps getting ahead of me." I quickly looked at my phone to see the hours have passed. I started to get annoyed at myself. I quickly set the timer on my watch so I could quickly head to school. I quickly ran into the halls, out of breath. I felt my head getting dizzy but I quickly caught myself. "Annie?" I heard someone mutter as I looked up at them.
"Hey." I took heavy breaths. Changbin faced me. "People have been wondering where you have been, are you okay?"
"Yeah, just a meeting at work." I straightened myself out.
"Even though you were just there last night?"
"Yeah."
"Let's go," Minho called as he rushed us to class. "You missed lunch break though, we all sat down together and talked about our future plans."
"Oh, is that right? Sorry I missed it..I lost track of time." I looked down.
"Hey, would you want to come to the stadium after school?" Changbin sounded like he has a whimper in his voice.
"Yeah." I agreed. "Did he find out something or did he just want.." I started to think then right as we walked into class I saw someone standing right at the desk, introducing himself.
"Jisung?!" I yelled. His eyes widened and his head peeked over at me. "Annie!" He called out like he was happy to see me.
"What are you doing here?" I laughed and noticed the whole class was watching.
He turned towards me. "Well, since I didn't see you come home last night I tried calling you, and you didn't answer so I decided to come to your school. After looking around I started to get a feeling back." Jisung smiled gently and looked down. "I decided to finally return to school and finish up my years."
I couldn't believe what he was saying. "Are you serious?"
Everyone started to slowly clap as the teacher got our attention. "Everyone take your seats." I slowly moved to the back of the class to sit next to Hyunjin. I made a small wave at him.
"How are your knees and hand?" he peeked over and saw that I had bandages all over my hand.
"Much better..they aren't that bad so don't worry," I whispered and then noticed Seungmin glaring back at us. "Remember." Seungmin mouthed to Hyunjin, and I was confused by the situation.
Before the teacher had caught us we stopped talking. But, I couldn't help but yawn and feel my eyes get heavy. My blinks felt heavy and I slowly felt my head falling down. I couldn't stop in. My head dropped, but Hyunjin quickly placed his arm under my head so I wouldn't hit the desk. I felt my eyes roll in the back of my head. "Annie, Annie," Hyunjin whispered as he got up close to my face. Looking at every detail. I felt the breath from his nose gently blowing on my skin. But, I couldn't wake up. His eyes were flickering. He was about to place his hand on my face but someone turned back to stop him. "Hey, shouldn't you pay attention?" Jisung smirked.
"Uh, uh. Right." Hyunjin slowly backed away with a cough, the teacher glared back. "Stop whispering back there.
After class, I felt a slight shake of my arms. "Annie, Annie." I heard a familiar voice. I struggled to open my eyes to see Jisung. "Are you getting more tired spells?" He whispered to me as I rubbed my eyes. "Uh, yeah. I am okay though. What time is it?" I quickly looked at my watch to see how much time had passed. "Aish." I rolled my head back.
"Is everything okay?" Hyunjin looked over.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. She just set a timer for her cake in the oven." Jisung quickly got me up and pulled me over to the corner of the room. I had forgotten to tell him. "Hyunjin is the.." I then remembered the promise I made to Hyunjin. "He knows about me," I told him instead.
"You told him about the object and all that?" Jisung was shocked.
"Yeah," I looked back quickly to see Hyunjin playing on his phone.
"Also, how did you sign up for school so quickly and start midday?"
"Oh, I was supposed to start tomorrow, but I thought I mind as well stay." Jisung shrugged. I felt like Jisung was there for more than just that.
"Hey, are you okay?" I heard someone come up behind me. I quickly turned back. "Yeah," I let Changbin know. We all walked back over to the others. "Oh, Didn't know you would go blue though." Minho laughed as he brushed Felix's shoulder. "Yeah,"
"So, Jisung is here and Macy is staying.. there is a lot of changing things happening.." As we all departed after school I made my way over to the stadium where Changbin wanted to meet. I looked around and it was dark, empty, and a bit cold. I tried to see if Changbin was anywhere near but I didn't spot him.
"Changbin?" I heard the echo and saw someone walk from the corner.
"You're here." I saw him and he quietly approached me.
"What is it you wanted to tell me?"
"Ah, Yeah the Spring Festival is coming up, probably will be fireworks and stuff.."
It felt like he was holding back, like something inside him was tangling him up.
"Yeah?"
"Would you like to go to that together?"
"Well..I mean it's time away so, I think all of our friend group would be able to go together. That would be fun." I looked down.
"ah, That's not what I meant." He looked up. "But, sure. I mean..What I mean is..I wanted it to be just us at some points..like to get something to eat together?" Changbin quickly grabbed a basketball that was in a bin. He started to bang in on the ground.
"Uh..I don't know what you mean by it. But sure."
"What I mean by it is that." He aimed the ball and shot it in the hoop.
"Is that I have grown feelings for you, Annie. I wanted to act on it quickly before I had lost my chance..But I feel like I already have." As those words left him, I felt a quivering in my chest. "I had this feeling that he did..but who would..when..?"
"Oh..when did this happen?" I looked up. "I don't know the exact moment, this is a bit embarrassing for me, though." He made a quick laugh and rubbed his nose.
"Ah.." I didn't know what to say. I did admire Changbin but as a really good friend. I didn't want to bring him down, I didn't want to let go of the bond that we had shared.
"But, I already know how you feel." I saw him a glare over.
"So, don't burden yourself to tell me."
"How..?"
"I saw how you looked at Hyunjin yesterday, That's why I got so mad and jealous."
"But, you wanted to strike a move on me first...? right?" He approached me.
"yeah," He made a laugh. "Just so I could show that I have more guts than Hyunjin does." He teased. "Oh.." I looked down because I could tell by his voice, his expression.
"I am sorry to let you down." I made a big bow. "Don't be sorry." He rubbed my head with a gentle smile.
"As long as we stick together, I am fine."
"Yeah, I will always be by your side, so don't worry about that." I lightly nudged his shoulder.
"Yeah, thanks.." Changbin had a lowness to his voice.
"Should we head out?" I suggested. He nodded and we walked out of the stadium together. I felt guilty, I wanted him to be happy, but I didn't want to fake anything either. All I wanted to do was be that best friend for him. I made a quick smile at him and we walked together down the campus sidewalk.
"It's getting late, do you want to get something to eat?" He shrugged.
"Nah, I promised Jisung that I would eat with him today." I scratched my head. "I will take you up on that offer another day, though!"
"Ahhh, okay. Maybe I can get Felix or Minho to come with me or something." As we turned the corner I saw Hyunjin, but I saw that he was talking with someone.
Rylee was in front of him, nudging his shoulder.
"Uhhh," I felt an unsettling feeling. I turned away so I didn't have to see it. Changbin had noticed.
"Ah, don't worry about that okay? Rylee gets boyfriends all the time so I am sure she isn't single right now.."
"Yeah, makes me feel better. What if she leeches off of Hyunjin?" I crossed my arms.
"That's not what I meant." Changbin made a nervous laugh. "They rarely talk anyway."
"Didn't they talk a lot back in the day, though?"
"I don't know much about it. But, don't think of it okay?" Changbin tried to cheer me up.
"It's fine. He can talk to whoever it's fine." I waved my hands in embarrassment. I still felt a weird feeling inside, I was jealous but, I tried to ignore those feeling and started walking off.
"Don't you want to talk to him?" Changbin shoved his hands in his pockets.
"It's okay." Then we both saw someone run from the distance to us. "Hey, Hey! Annie!" Macy said out of breath.
"Do you want to be in the designing team for the Spring Festival?"
"Ah, Yes. I would have to think about it with all my time though." I made a nervous laugh.
"Seungmin is the leader of the team and asked me for you, but we have some time to plan it so, take your time to think about it."
"What are you still doing here though? you usually go home early." She paused.
"Oh, I was just discussing some things with Changbin." I shrugged.
"Ah," Macy nodded. Felix then approached us and got Macy's attention.
"Where are you headed?"
"Oh, just home. I have lots of homework to do." Felix made a nervous laugh. I noticed they have gotten close than before, and I smiled at the thoughts. "Maybe Felix is the reason why Macy decided to stay."
I quickly got home because the timer was going by quicker and quicker. I tried to get the image of Hyunjin and Rylee laughing out of my head. "Focus Annie." I hit myself in the head. I saw Jisung already outside, waiting in a long snow coat because of the coldness outside. He was bundled up.
"What took you so long to get home from school? I came home a while ago.." He muttered as he tapped his feet.
"Sorry, I lost track of time," I made a small laugh.
"Ah, we have to find a way to stop it soon.." Jisung sighed. We walked across the street.
"Oh, speaking of which..I need to tell you something. The thing is I know how to stop it."
Jisung turned his head over to me, with his eyes widened. "How? Did you find out the cause?"
"Yeah." I skipped ahead. We walked inside a grill.
We were sitting down together, as it started to pour outside.
"Are you going to tell me?" Jisung looked up at me as he stuffed his face.
"Uh," I needed to tell Jisung because he was my brother and the person I was closest to. But, I still felt an urge inside of me that was stopping me.
"Well, you know Hyunjin has that ability right?"
"Ahhhhh," Jisung shrugged his arms back.
"So, what you're saying is that you have to give him up in order to get your time back right?"
"Yeah, but, I don't think I have the ability to do so." I looked down. Just having the thought running around through me, that I couldn't see Hyunjin again, that I couldn't have him in my life anymore. I started to feel sick and empty. "I can't bear that thought.."
"Well, You have to make your decision, Annie. It's either you live your life or suffer the consequences." I saw that Jisung had deep things on his mind.
"Thank you for coming out all this way for me, and for coming to school too." I let him know. "It's a big support." I looked down, with a shooting feeling in my heart. I started to feel weaker and weaker.
"Are you okay? Should we go home? You're looking a bit weak." Jisung tried to see my lowering head. "Yeah, I'm fine." I closed my eyes for a minute trying to regain my focus again.
"Let's get home so you can rest." Jisung stood up and took my arm up. "I am okay, I promise." I waved my hands. Finally focusing on his face in front of me.
"Make sure to make the decision best for you, okay? You've always lived being considerate of others. Make sure to be considerate of yourself this time." We both looked outside to see the rain pouring harder and harder.
"Yeah, but what decision is really better for me? Because either way, I will be in pain." I looked down at the thought. "Let's just get you home." Jisung lead me out the door. The cover above us was blocking out the rain. "How are we going to get back?" I looked up at the dark sky, the rain pouring heavier. That reminded me of the first day Hyunjin and I had talked to each other. I had a flashback to when we ran in the rain together.
I felt my heart flicker again.
"Ready?" Jisung looked over at me. Then, a car had quickly pulled up in front of us.
"Oh, he actually came." We watched as the person came out of the car, and quickly ran up to us. I saw Hyunjin's face light up as he saw us. "What are you doing here?" I got flustered.
"I told him to come to eat with us, but he had something to do. But, I guess he still came." Jisung shrugged.
"I decided to save you from the rain." Hyunjin had a gentle smile. I couldn't help but make a quick smile. "Shall we?" We got in the car quickly as we got a tiny bit wet from the drops. "Thank you, if you didn't come we probably would've gotten socked." I laughed as I stuffed my hands in my coat.
"Yeah, I wouldn't want you to get sick." Hyunjin scratched his head and started to drive the car.
"Thank you for thinking of me." I looked out the window as I saw the pouring rain hit the glass.
"Mhm." Hyunjin was silent but he had a big smile on his face.
"What's that smile for?"
"Ah, it's nothing." He rubbed his nose. "I just enjoy my time with you." He made a quick look over at me.
"Ah." I smiled and looked down.
"Would you guys stop being sappy and actually tell each other?" Jisung said from the back seat.
"What do you mean?" I got flustered.
"It's okay, I already know," Hyunjin muttered with a laugh. But, I was still confused. I felt my heart start to flicker.
"Your heart is racing right?" He teased as he pulled up right next to my house.
"Let's run out quickly, okay?" Hyunjin placed his hand on his mind, with a determined face. I nodded quickly. We all opened the doors and ran as fast as we could out of the cold rain. We swung open my door, out of breath, and pretty soaked, we all laughed.
"Thank you again." I made a quick smile and dried off my hair.
I saw the small giggle Hyunjin had. "What're you laughing at?" I glared.
"I-it's nothing." He looked away, avoiding saying.
"Tell me." I pouted.
"Ah, it's just your hair, anyway. I should be going." Hyunjin made a quick bow and quickly left then left.
"Ah," I shrugged back while plopping on the couch. I still felt weak, but I didn't want to show that in front of Hyunjin.
"It's getting late huh? I am heading to bed." Jisung waved. I looked at my timer and saw the seconds were faster and faster. "I guess I should too before the night is over."
I was quickly woken up, to sleep that felt like every few minutes. I looked outside to see it was still raining, and it was very gray looking out. "I literally just laid down," I whined and quickly got up. I felt drained and I didn't want to do anything.
"Shoot, I forgot to do my homework." I quickly gathered the papers on my desk. I felt frustrated with myself. Jisung's words played through my head. "What is what's best for me?"
Later at school, it felt like another day. But, I started to get an unsettling feeling while sitting in class.
"It sure has been raining for a while, hasn't it?" Hyunjin said softly as he looked out the large windows.
"Yeah," I muttered.
"Yeah, for real. I couldn't finish my outdoor projects because of the rain." Seungmin shrugged back. "Remember our project today, Annie?"
"Right," I remembered I would be creating more of my character designs for the game and got an exciting feeling. I smiled around at all the classmates around me. We listened to the lesson. But, I noticed Jisung ahead, looking at his phone, and raising his hand. "I have to step out." He got up, with the phone next to his ear and quickly left.
"I wonder what that was about." Minho looked back. I shrugged with the worried feeling. "Since when does Jisung get calls, especially urgent ones?" The thoughts wandered around. I couldn't keep my eyes still. Hyunjin had noticed my racing heart. Even though I didn't hear, I could just know.
Jisung quickly opened the door again, "Annie, let's go." He gulped. "It's mom." He had a saddening, frightful look on his face. Without hesitation, I quickly got up and we ran. With every step. I couldn't help but feel the sinking feeling. "Why didn't I visit her more? Why didn't I go with you? Why did I avoid it?" I yelled as we went to the hospital as quickly as we could. We ran through the halls and to the room. The doctors were already waiting for us.
They stood in front of the bed, blocking our vision. "Hey, let me see her." I tried to push through. With nothing else on my mind. "Hey, Hey, just let me explain to you. We really did try to save her. But, it seems her time was..not as long as we expected." The doctor tried to explain, but I quickly pushed through. To see my mother covered up. I slowly uncovered her face, to see her cold, closed eyes. I felt every bit of me start to break. Thinking I had more time to visit her. I gripped tightly onto the sheets and started to let out a cry. I felt the tears trembling down my face, as it was hard to breathe. Hard to believe. Jisung had started crying right beside me too, but silently. I cried out loud, curling my head on my mom. Holding on as long as I could.
"I am sorry I couldn't be here with you more, mom. I am sorry I didn't know all this time. I am sorry I am sorry." I repeated. With tears shimmering down my face, I felt this aching yet emptiness in my chest. That there was nothing I could do, I couldn't take back anything. All I could do was sit there, gripping at her bedside.